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Why Lord Arbuthnot Demanded a £700m Interim Payment from Fujitsu

Lord Arbuthnot’s £700m figure was a proposed interim payment, not an agreed debt. Here is what Parliament, Government and Fujitsu had said by June 2026.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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Lord James Arbuthnot proposed that Fujitsu make a £700 million interim payment towards the costs of the Post Office Horizon scandal. The figure was his proposal—not an agreed debt, court ruling or payment shown in the cited sources. His wider argument was that Fujitsu should ultimately cover half of the scandal’s costs, including redress and inquiry expenses.

Why was Fujitsu asked to contribute?

Fujitsu supplied Horizon, the computer system at the centre of the Post Office scandal. The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee said Horizon bugs created illusory account shortfalls that the Post Office used to demand repayment from sub-postmasters, suspend them, prosecute them and secure convictions. The Committee also said people at both Fujitsu and the Post Office knew, in some capacity, that the system was faulty and producing errors. The Committee’s report recommended that Fujitsu make a significant contribution to redress and that the Government seek an interim payment urgently. It said the eventual contribution should take account of borrowing costs, interest, and legal and administrative expenses.

What did Lord Arbuthnot mean by £700 million?

In an October 7, 2025 report, Computer Weekly quoted Arbuthnot proposing a £700 million interim payment and arguing that Fujitsu should pay half of the scandal’s costs, including half of redress and inquiry costs. He said: “An interim payment now of £700m might begin to restore its reputation, but that should be a long-term process, not helped by their silence to date.” Computer Weekly’s report said Fujitsu was due to respond to Volume 1 of the inquiry report by October 10, 2025, and that parties had until October 31 to set out restorative-justice plans or actions. Those were deadlines in 2025, not upcoming dates.

How did the Committee and Government respond?

Position What it said
Lord Arbuthnot, October 2025 Proposed a £700 million interim payment and Fujitsu paying half of scandal costs, including redress and inquiry costs. This was his proposal, not an agreed figure. Computer Weekly
Business and Trade Committee Recommended that Fujitsu make a significant contribution and that the Government seek an urgent interim payment. It did not set £700 million as the official amount owed. Committee report
Government Accepted the recommendation to seek an interim payment. It said the final contribution would need to reflect the inquiry’s accountability findings, and that an interim payment was desirable but for Fujitsu to consider. Government response
Committee update, June 19, 2026 Reported that executives said Fujitsu had made no provision for a payment, which could exceed £1 billion, and criticized the company for not setting out an amount or timetable. This was a possible scale reported by the Committee, not a final liability determination. Committee update

In March 2026, a Government minister again said Fujitsu should bear the cost of redress, while saying that whether to make an interim payment remained the company’s decision. Hansard, March 18, 2026

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Has Fujitsu paid compensation?

The cited sources do not establish that Fujitsu had paid an interim contribution. The Post Office, by contrast, reported that it had paid more than £1.2 billion to 9,100 people across all redress schemes. That is the Post Office’s reported redress total, not a Fujitsu payment. Post Office’s published update said the deadline for accepting new applications to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme was January 31, 2026; that date has passed.

What remains unresolved?

As of the Business and Trade Committee’s June 19, 2026 update, Fujitsu had not set out the amount or timetable for its contribution. The Committee urged the company to make an immediate interim payment and commit to a timetable for meeting its full liability. That is Parliament’s position; the cited sources do not establish a final Fujitsu contribution or a legal finding that it owes £700 million.

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